“We got a couple people we need to celebrate,” one researcher said partway through the interview. The participants agreed, and kept adding names.
Buck Hoy, photographer
Studio remembered at about 233 W. Cermak Road
Robert Hoy’s grandfather, Buck Hoy came from China to Walla Walla, Washington, farmed, and then taught himself photography in Chicago. He was remembered as the only photographer in Chinatown, recording weddings, funerals and banquets, and known for retouching portraits by hand. Kodak, the participant said, once sent a crew to profile him. Group portraits from his studio, each with 25 to 50 people, line a room at the Chinese Community Center. When he left Chicago for California, he destroyed his large-format negatives, saying they belonged to the families.
Mr. Callahan, benefactor
St. Therese School, 23rd Street
Remembered as the donor who made the 1962 St. Therese School building possible, and who sent a Santa Claus with individually wrapped gifts for every child each Christmas. A participant regretted that his name appears nowhere on the school.
Stanley Wong, broker and restaurateur
Hong Min, W. Cermak Road
Described as Chinatown’s real estate broker, loan broker, structural engineer and architect all at once in his day, Stanley Wong also opened Hong Min, which participants credited with bringing daily dim sum to Chinatown. His daughter Mary, a St. Therese graduate, ran the restaurant and was remembered for her warmth. A participant felt Wong contributed a great deal and is now rarely mentioned.
Benson Lee, cook
Dismissed by others as “a chop suey cook,” Benson Lee developed dishes such as satay beef and salt-and-pepper pork chop with restaurateur Peter. A participant felt Lee was never given the credit or respect he earned.
“Blacky,” bandleader
The professional instructor brought in to teach the youth drum corps every instrument. Participants noted that he does not appear in the corps photographs shown at the Chinatown museum, and could not agree on his real name or background.
Jimmy Hong, pool hall owner
Proprietor of Dragon Cue, remembered as a second father to neighborhood boys and for insisting that everyone in his hall respect everyone else.
The Chiam owners
Chiam Restaurant, S. Wentworth Avenue
Participants described the brothers behind Chiam, with Jimmy Wong as the outgoing host who “knew everyone” and his brother Yat as owner. They recalled the family building a six-flat at 23rd and Princeton for both households, rare at the time, and later assembling land south along Wentworth for a larger development that brought in a banquet hall, shops, the public library branch and a post office, with help in financing from Italian American partners.
George Cheung, civic leader
Chinatown Gate, 2206 S. Wentworth
Known from the survey as the person who conceived the Chinatown Gate, George Cheung was also remembered for supporting the drum corps, for running the Chicago Marathon course twice in one day, and for hosting runners at his restaurant, The Junk.
Charlie Soo, neighborhood advocate
Argyle Street, Uptown
Credited with promoting the Argyle commercial district on the North Side, including the Chinese-style canopy at the Argyle station. A participant said that when he died, hardly anyone knew.
Wilson Moy, community go-between
Remembered by his son, Leslie Moy, and by Robert Hoy as an informal “mayor of Chinatown” who coordinated with the police and neighboring communities. Participants credited him with keeping gang problems out of Chicago’s Chinatown and associated his tenure with the neighborhood’s most prosperous years.
The parents
Beyond any one name, participants returned to the parents of their childhood, who cooked for the bazaar, paid for the drum corps and gave their time. One said his generation tends to write a check instead.